Clinico-Radiological-Pathologic Profile and Outcomes of Lung Transplant in Post-COVID-19 Phenotype: A Single Center Experience.

BACKGROUND: Lung transplantation (LTx) has come as hope for select patients with post-COVID acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). It has a different phenotype with unique challenges. We aimed to bring out our experience with and outcomes of LTx for post-COVID ARDS. METHODS: This study is retrospective case series from a single center in India. All the patients with post-COVID end stage lung disease (ESLD) who underwent bilateral LTx between 1st May 2020 and 30th August 2021 were included. LTx was performed following no improvement with optimal medical management with adequate time provided for recovery. Information relating to demographics, comorbidities, pretransplant status, perioperative parameters, gross and histopathological findings of explanted lungs, posttransplant morbidity, and mortality were analyzed. RESULTS: This study included 23 patients. The median age of the patients in this study was 42 years and 20 participants were men (87%). The mean duration of intensive care unit stay was 15.83 ± 6.61 days. Mortality was observed among 8 participants (34.78%). Mean survival time was 34.54 weeks. Among the 8 patients who expired, the cause of death was sepsis for 6 patients (75.0%), neurologic cerebrovascular accident for 1 patient (12.5%), and cytomegalovirus for 1 patient (12.5%). All the deaths were reported in primary graft dysfunction grade 2 & 3 category. No rejections were observed on first and third month surveillance biopsies. CONCLUSIONS: LTx is the definitive option for survival in select patients with severe post-COVID-19-associated ESLD. This study brings out various challenges involved in such phenotypes and also observations in postoperative recovery.

Challenges of lung transplantation in India.

Lung transplantation (LTx) is the definitive treatment for select progressive end-stage lung disease patients despite being on optimum medical therapy. Asian countries like China, Japan and India have started LTx programmes despite various odds and challenges. Some of these challenges seem to be unique to developing countries. We have elaborated the challenges of LTx in India and their proposed solutions and shared our experience in setting up a successful LTx programme.

Donor lung management: Changing perspectives.

Worldwide, lung transplantation has been a therapeutic option for select end-stage lung disease patients who are on optimized medical regimens, but the underlying clinical condition continues to progress. For any successful lung transplantation program, it is important to have a robust donor lung management program. Lungs are commonly affected by the various factors related to trauma or neurogenic in brain stem death donors. This article would focus on the basic protocols to optimize donor lungs which would help in increasing donor pool. It would also elaborate COVID-specific points for donor lung evaluation. This article would also describe the criteria for ideal as well as marginal donor lungs. A comprehensive literature search was performed using PubMed to review various articles related to donor lung management.

Challenges, experiences, and postoperative outcomes in setting up first successful lung transplant unit in India.

BACKGROUND: Lung transplantation (LT) has emerged as a definitive cure for a plethora of end-stage lung diseases (ESLDs). With improvements in immune-suppression protocols, the posttransplantation survival rates have gone up. AIM: The study reported the initial experience of the India's single largest lung transplant program on clinicopathological profile, procedures, challenges encountered, and outcomes. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A retrospective analysis was done from data available at three centers of Institute of Heart and Lung Transplant, Gleneagles Global Hospitals across Chennai, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 132 patients underwent lung (single or bilateral) or combined heart and lung transplant between April 2017 and March 2020. All the participants had 30 days' follow-up. Postoperative complications, graft rejection, and 30-day mortality were reported. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and logistic regression analysis were performed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Kaplan-Meier survival and binary logistic regression was performed. RESULTS: Interstitial lung diseases, 65.91%, were the most common diagnosis. Bilateral LT (81.3%) was the most common type of LT performed. Grade III primary graft dysfunction was observed in 16 (12.1%). Distal airway stenosis (21.97%) was the most common complication followed by anastomotic stenosis (14.30%). Gram-negative bacterial sepsis (52%) was the leading cause of death. Cumulative probability of survival at 1 month was 0.85 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.80-0.92), and at 1 year, it was 0.78 (95% CI, 0.72-0.86). CONCLUSION: This study establishes the fact that despite multiple challenges, LT is a viable option for selected patients with ESLDs in India and should encourage early referrals to a transplant center.

Anaesthetic challenges in pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis - a rare disease treated with bilateral lung transplantation, first case from India.

Pulmonary Alveolar Microlithiasis (PAM) is a rare autosomal recessive end stage lung condition characterized by widespread alveolar deposition of calcium microliths. It is worth emphasis india has reported 80 cases out of 1022 cases worldwide but there is no report on lung transplant and and anaesthetic management in this category of patient. This report present the anaesthetic challenge in management of first indian patient with the diagnosis of PAM, who underwent bilateral lung transplantation. Bilateral lung transplantation is one of the most challenging surgeries that require the care of a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist. Utilization of extracorporeal circulation has allowed a safer performance of this procedure in patients with severe cardiopulmonary compromise. Intraoperative management is a pivotal part of the patient's care, as it contributes to the patient's overall outcome.

Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis: A rare disease treated with lung transplantation, first case from India.

Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis (PAM) is a rare autosomal recessive condition characterized by widespread alveolar deposition of calcium microliths. A mutation in the SLC34A2 gene in the alveolar Type II pneumocytes is responsible for decreased phosphate clearance and accumulation of calcium as spherules in the alveoli. The presence of this gene in other organs is responsible for the systemic phenotype of the disease. PAM is characterized by the lack of defining symptoms such as cough and progressive dyspnea until it reaches the stage of cor pulmonale and presents with features of respiratory and right ventricular (RV) failure. Radiologically, it is characterized by intense calcification in the lung parenchyma producing specific signs such as the "sandstorm appearance" in the early stages to the "white out lung" with "black pleura sign" in the later stages of the disease. While conventional therapy has not been successful at treatment, bilateral lung transplantation offers to be the only effective remedy. In this report, we present the case of a 54-year-old female who presented in the stage of respiratory and RV failure, with oxygen and noninvasive ventilation (NIV) dependence. She was treated with bilateral lung transplantation. Postoperatively, she was monitored closely for immunosuppression, prophylactic anti-infective measures, and bronchoscopies to evaluate for airway complications. The patient gradually improved and was discharged from the hospital without any need for oxygen or NIV.

Single lung transplantation in India: an initial experience.

The science of lung transplantation has evolved from an experimental procedure, to be accepted as a legitimate mainstream therapy for patients with end-stage pulmonary disease. Now lung transplantation offers patients with end-stage lung disease acceptable quality of life and matches a 5-year survival rate of other solid organ transplants. In the present report, we present our initial experience in performing two single lung transplantations done in our centre.